Method and system for visually representing telephone call tree interface

ABSTRACT

A method, system and computer instructions for visually representing telephone call tree interfaces for interaction by users of data network phones, such as, for example, wire-line telephones, data network telephones, or IP telephones. A caller can connect to an automated telephone answering service, and view a display of an interactive, visual interface for a call tree. The display can depict actions that can be taken with respect to the nodes of the call tree. The visual interface can show details about one or more nodes of the call tree, and the caller can select a node for interaction and enter a wait queue associated with the selected node. For example, the caller can use a wire-line telephone, wireless telephone, data network telephone, or IP telephone to interact with, navigate and/or modify the displayed call tree.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/753,709,filed Jan. 8, 2004, status allowed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to telephony, and in particular,but not exclusively, to a method and system for visually representingcall tree interfaces for interaction by users of telephones such as, forexample, wire-line telephones, wireless telephones, data networktelephones, or Internet Protocol (IP) telephones.

2. Description of Related Art

Automated telephone answering systems are typically softwareapplications that answer and process incoming telephone calls. So-called“call path” or “call tree” systems are automated telephone answeringsystems used by businesses to reduce the costs of answering customers'calls. However, these cost reductions are usually offset by theinconveniences forced on the customers, who typically have to wadethrough a long, confusing and sometimes frustrating maze of options inmenu form. These menus of options are commonly referred to as “calltrees”.

A significant drawback of existing call tree systems is that theytypically require callers to make multiple attempts before they cantraverse the menu options successfully. For example, in the health carefield, a patient might submit a payment request to an insurance providerfor services performed by a healthcare provider. If the healthcareprovider fails to submit the appropriate paperwork to the insuranceprovider in order to support the alleged services performed, theinsurance provider might reject the patient's submission. Typically, thepatient's only recourse is to call the insurance provider. If theinsurance provider's answering system uses a complicated and/orconfusing call tree, having to navigate such a complicated or confusingcall tree only exacerbates the patient's concern and frustration aboutthe rejected payment request.

Another drawback of existing call tree systems is that significantlydifferent call trees are typically used in similar technologies. Forexample, a call tree used for voice mail in a cellular telephone systemcan be significantly different than the call tree used for voice mail inthe wire-line telephone system within the same region.

Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method andsystem that allows a caller to interact with and modify a call tree, andthereby make it easier and quicker for the caller to navigate the calltree options successfully.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method, system and computerinstructions for visually representing telephone call tree interfacesfor interaction by users of telephones, such as, for example, wire-linetelephones, wireless telephones, data network telephones, or IPtelephones. A caller can connect to an automated telephone answeringservice, and view a display of an interactive, visual interface for acall tree. The display can depict actions that can be taken with respectto the nodes of the call tree. The visual interface can show detailsabout one or more nodes of the call tree, and the caller can select anode for interaction and enter a wait queue associated with the selectednode. For example, the caller can use a wire-line telephone, wirelesstelephone, data network telephone, or IP telephone to interact with,navigate and/or modify the displayed call tree.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are setforth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well asa preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, willbest be understood by reference to the following detailed description ofan illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating a plurality of interconnected,heterogeneous networks in which the present invention may beimplemented;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial diagram of a wireless telephone that can be usedfor implementing a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a wireless telephone, such as any of thewireless telephones illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are related exemplary screens of display that illustrateprinciples of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process for visually representing aninteractive telephone call tree in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the figures, and in particular with reference toFIG. 1, a system diagram illustrating a plurality of interconnected,heterogeneous networks in which the present invention may be implementedis depicted. As illustrated, exemplary system 100 includes IP network102, Local Area Network (LAN)/Wide Area Network (WAN) 104, PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN) 109, cellular wireless network 112,and satellite communications network 116. As such, system 100 makes up aplurality of heterogeneous networks, and one or more of these networkscan be used to implement the present invention.

IP network 102 can be a publicly available IP network, a private IPnetwork, or a combination of public and private IP networks. In anycase, IP network 102 operates according to the Internet Protocol and canroute packets through its numerous switches and transmission paths. IPnetworks are generally known in the art to be expandable, fairly easy touse and heavily supported. Coupled to IP network 102 is Domain NameServer (DNS) 108 to which queries may be sent, with such queries eachrequesting an IP address based upon a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). IPnetwork 102 can support 32 bit IP addresses as well as 128 bit IPaddresses.

LAN/WAN 104 is coupled to IP network 102 via proxy server 106 (or anyother appropriate connection). LAN/WAN 104 can operate according tovarious communication protocols, such as the Internet Protocol, theAsynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) protocol, or other known packetswitched protocols. Proxy server 106 functions primarily to route databetween IP network 102 and LAN/WAN 104. A firewall that precludesunwanted communications from entering LAN/WAN 104 may also be located atthe site of proxy server 106.

Computer 120 is coupled to LAN/WAN 104 and supports communications withLAN/WAN 104. Computer 120 can employ LAN/WAN 104 and proxy server 106 tocommunicate with other devices across IP network 102. Suchcommunications are generally known in the art and will not be furtherdescribed herein except to expand upon the teachings of the presentinvention. Also, phone 122 can be coupled to computer 120 and employedto initiate IP Telephony communications with another phone or voiceterminal using the IP Telephony functions available. In such an IPtelephony system, a service provider can deploy a gatekeeper (not shown)to manage IP telephony for its users. IP phone 154 connected to IPnetwork 102 (or other phone, such as, for example, phone 124) can beused to communicate with phone 122 using IP telephony.

PSTN 109 is a circuit switched network that is employed primarily forvoice communications, such as those enabled by standard phone 124.However, PSTN 109 can also support the transmission of data. Datatransmissions may be supported to a tone-based terminal, such asfacsimile (FAX) machine 125, a tone-based modem contained in computer126, or another device that can be coupled to PSTN 109 via a digitalconnection, such as an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) line,an Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), or another appropriatedigital connection to a terminal that supports such a connection. Asillustrated, a voice terminal, such as phone 128, can be coupled to PSTN109 via computer 126 rather than being supported directly by PSTN 109,as can be the case with phone 124. Thus, for example, computer 126 cansupport IP telephony with voice terminal 128.

Cellular network 112 supports wireless communications with terminalsoperating within its service area (e.g., providing coverage for a city,county, state, country, etc.). Cellular network 112 can include aplurality of base transmitter system (BTS) towers (e.g., tower 130), andeach such tower can define and service radiotelephone or wirelesscommunications within a respective cell. Wireless terminals operate inconjunction with cellular network 112 and can include wireless handsets132 and wireless-enabled laptop or personal computers 134, for example.Wireless handsets 132 can be, for example, personal digital assistants(PDA's), radiotelephones, wireless or cellular telephones, or two-waypagers. Cellular network 112 can be coupled to IP network 102 viagateway 114.

Wireless handsets 132 and wireless-enabled laptop or personal computers134 can communicate with cellular network 112 using, for example, awireless application protocol (WAP). The WAP is an open, globalspecification that allows mobile users with wireless devices, such as,for example, mobile phones, pagers, two-way telephones phones,radiotelephones, smart-phones, communicators, PDA's, and portable laptopor similar personal computers, to easily and almost instantly access andinteract with network provided information and services. The WAP is acommunications protocol and application environment and can be built onany operating system (OS) including, for example, Palm OS, EPOC, WindowsCE, FLEXOS, OS/9, and a Java OS. The WAP can also provideinteroperability between different families of devices.

Furthermore, the WAP is a wireless equivalent of Hypertext TransferProtocol (HTTP) and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). The HTTP-likecomponent of the WAP defines the communication protocol between thehandheld device and a server or gateway. This component addressescharacteristics that are unique to wireless devices, such as data rateand round-trip response time. The HTML-like component of the WAP,Wireless Markup Language (WML), defines markup and scripting languagesfor displaying information to, and interacting with, the users. The WMLcomponent of the WAP is highly focused on the limited display size andlimited input devices available on small, handheld devices. For example,a typical cell phone may have a 4×10-character display with 16-graylevels, a numeric keypad, and up/down volume keys.

Cellular network 112 operates according to a particular mobileradiotelephone operating standard, which can be, for example, anAdvanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) standard, Digital-AMPS (D-AMPS)standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) standard, Time DivisionMultiple Access (TDMA) standard, Global System for Mobile Communications(GSM) standard, or any other appropriate mobile radiotelephone operatingstandard. As such, independent of the standards supported by cellularnetwork 112, cellular network 112 can support voice and datacommunications with terminal units, such as, for example, terminals 132and 134.

Exemplary satellite network 116 includes at least one satellite dish 136that operates in conjunction with one or more satellites 138 to providesatellite communications with a plurality of terminals, such as, forexample, laptop or personal computer 142 and satellite handset 140.Also, satellite handset 140 can be a two-way pager. Satellite network116 can be serviced by one or more geo-synchronous orbitingcommunications satellites, a plurality of medium earth orbit (MEO)communications satellites, or a plurality of low earth orbit (LEO)communications satellites. In any case, satellite network 116 canprovide voice and data communications and services and can be coupled toIP network 102 via gateway 118.

Wireless Proxy 160 can be coupled to IP network 102 and also to aplurality of transmission/reception towers (e.g., tower 162), each ofwhich can provide wireless communications with wireless devices such as,for example, wireless device 164. Wireless Proxy 160 can provide accessto IP network 102 for wireless device 164. For example, wireless device164 can be a PDA or wireless telephone, which may require proprietary orother special protocols in order to communicate with IP network 102. Forexample, wireless proxy server 160 can be a 3Com server utilizing 3Comprotocols for communicating with a Palm VII, which is a handheld,portable computing device available from 3Com Corporation in SantaClara, Calif.

Also, wireless proxy 160 can be a 3Com proxy server supportingcommunications with, for example, a Palm VII personal organizer, andportable computing device 164 can be a Palm VII personal organizer. Assuch, communications between wireless proxy server 160 and portablecomputing device 164 can be facilitated by the use of Palm QueryApplications (PQAs).

A PQA is similar to a mini-Web site that can reside on portablecomputing device 164. In other words, a PQA can be a special type ofrecords database. A typical PQA can contain an HTML form, or a list ofhyperlinks that request additional information either locally onpersonal computing device 164 or remotely via the Internet. As such,PQAs are available that can access targeted bits of Internetinformation, similar to clippings from a newspaper. Typically, ahandheld computer user does not focus on following hyperlinks to theInternet (although this is available), but instead, a typical usercomposes a simple query in a PQA (for example a request for a stockquote), and then sends that query over the airwaves.

In any event, the configurations and operations of the networks shown inFIG. 1 are described herein for illustrative and explanatory purposesonly, and are intended as examples and not as architectural limitationsfor the processes of the present invention.

With reference now to FIG. 2, a pictorial diagram of a wirelesstelephone is depicted that can be used for implementing a preferredembodiment of the present invention. Wireless telephone 200 can includedisplay 202 for presenting at least textual and graphical information.Display 202 can be a known display device, such as a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), plasma display, or any other display device that can beused appropriately with such a wireless telephone. For this exemplaryembodiment, display 202 can be used to present and manipulate, amongother things, a call tree or similar menu of options provided, forexample, from an automated telephone answering system. Also, for thisembodiment, wireless telephone 200 can include appropriate software toexecute a Web browser and perform such processing functions asdownloading and uploading data from and to the Internet, and similarother processing functions. As such, wireless telephone 200 can alsoperform the two-way communication functions of a typical wirelesstelephone.

Wireless telephone 200 may also include keypad 204, speaker 206, antenna208, and microphone 212. Keypad 204 may be used to receive typed orcursor-like input from a user. Speaker 206 provides a mechanism foraudio output, such as the voice audio of a party to whom the user ofwireless telephone 200 may be speaking. Microphone 212 provides amechanism for audio input such as for speaking to a called party.Antenna 208 provides a mechanism for establishing a wirelesscommunications link between wireless phone 200 and a network, such as,for example, network 102 in FIG. 1.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention,wireless telephone 200 may also be an IP telephone, or alternatively,for example, a Voice-over IP (VoIP) telephone using packet-switchingtechnologies. For this exemplary embodiment, a caller can dial thenumber of an automated telephone answering system associated with aparticular service provider. A digital Private Branch Exchange (PBX),server, or gateway (not shown) can map the dialed telephone number to anIP address of an IP host associated with the automated telephoneanswering system.

In this example, it may be assumed that the IP host can be the automatedtelephone answering system involved. As such, a session can beestablished between the PBX, server or gateway associated with wirelesstelephone 200 and the called party's (e.g., automated telephoneanswering system's) IP host. For this example, wireless telephone 200can be operated in accordance with an accepted VoIP protocol, such as,for example, the known H.323 Protocol or the known Session InitiationProtocol (SIP).

For this exemplary embodiment, wireless telephone 200 can establish asession with a computer associated with the automated telephoneanswering system involved. Nevertheless, the use of wireless telephone200 is for illustrative purposes only and not intended as anarchitectural limitation for the present invention. Any appropriatetelephone (e.g., in FIG. 1) that can function primarily to enable a userto interact with a call tree can be used to implement the presentinvention.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a block diagram of a wireless telephone isdepicted in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. Wireless telephone 300 is an example of a wireless telephone,such as wireless telephone 200 in FIG. 2, in which code or instructionsimplementing the processes of the present invention may be stored andexecuted. Exemplary wireless telephone 300 includes bus 302 to whichprocessor 304 and main memory 306 are connected. Display adapter 308,keypad adapter 310, storage 312, microphone adapter 318, audio adapter314, and automatic answer unit 316 also are connected to bus 302.

For this exemplary embodiment, an OS runs on processor 304 and can beused to coordinate and provide control of various components withinwireless telephone 300 in FIG. 3. Instructions for the OS andapplications or programs can be located on storage devices, such asstorage device 312, and can be loaded into main memory 306 for executionby processor 304. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciatethat the hardware in FIG. 3 can vary depending on the implementation.Other internal hardware or peripheral devices, such as flash ROM (orequivalent nonvolatile memory) or optical disk drives and the like, maybe used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in FIG. 3.

With reference now to FIGS. 4A and 4B, related exemplary screens ofdisplay are depicted that illustrate principles of the presentinvention. For example, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, the exemplary information shown in FIGS. 4A and 4Bcan represent illustrative screens of display of call trees or menuoptions published (e.g., as an HTML or HTML-like page, Extensible ML(XML) page, WML page, etc.) by an Internet or other network serviceprovider associated with an automated telephone answering system. Also,for example, the exemplary information shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B canrepresent illustrative screens of display on wireless telephone 200 orother appropriate wireless telephones (e.g., wireless telephone 132,140, 164), and/or a monitor for a computer (e.g., 120, 126, 134, 142).For this exemplary embodiment, it may be assumed (for illustrativepurposes only) that the exemplary information of FIGS. 4A and 4B arerelated, interactive screens for the display of wireless telephone 200and interaction by a user of wireless telephone 200. In this regard, inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention,exemplary screen of display 400 b in FIG. 4B represents an expansion(e.g., with additional details) of menu item 402 a in FIG. 4A.

Referring now to FIG. 4A, for this exemplary embodiment, screen ofdisplay 400 a can represent an HTML or HTML-like web page that can bedisplayed on an IP phone (e.g., wireless telephone 200) or a monitorassociated with a computer that can be viewed by a user of a wire-linetelephone, wireless telephone, data network telephone, or IP telephone.Alternatively, screen of display 400 a can represent a WML page, XMLpage or similar (web) page. For this example, it may be assumed thatscreen of display 400 a is displayed on a display device of wirelesstelephone 200. Also, for illustrative purposes and ease ofunderstanding, it may be assumed that wireless telephone 200 is wirelessIP telephone 164 shown in FIG. 1.

With reference now to FIG. 5, a flowchart of a process for visuallyrepresenting an interactive telephone call tree interface is depicted inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Assuch, for this example, the process illustrated in FIG. 5 may beimplemented by wireless IP telephone 164 (e.g., configured as wirelesstelephone 200).

Exemplary process 500 begins by a user accessing a call tree of interest(step 502). For example, the user can place a telephone call (e.g., withwireless IP telephone 164) to a number associated with a particularservice provider (e.g., Information Technology Services Call Center),and an automated telephone answering system can answer that call. Also,for example, the number called can be for a telephone associated withthat service provider (e.g., for wire-line telephone 128), and thenumber and telephone also can be associated with a computer (e.g.,computer 126) where an application for such an automated telephoneanswering system can reside.

Once an appropriate telephone connection is made between thesetelephones or telephone systems, an application running in wireless IPtelephone 164 (or the user) can determine whether or not this particulartelephone number and/or service provider has been called earlier (step504). If not, wireless IP telephone 164 can display text describing thisfact for the user. In response, the user (e.g., or software applicationrunning in wireless IP telephone 164) can initiate a download (e.g.,with an internal browser) of the service provider's call tree (step506). As described earlier, the downloaded call tree can be provided towireless IP telephone 164 as an interactive HTML or HTML-like (e.g.,WML, XML, etc.) page. As an alternative, the service provider's calltree can be input (e.g., manually keyed) directly into wireless IPtelephone 164 as an interactive HTML or HTML-like page. Also, as anotheralternative, a speech recognition application running in wireless IPtelephone 164 can be used for vocally inputting the interactive calltree into wireless IP telephone 164.

Next, the application running in wireless IP telephone 164 can displaythe downloaded call tree as the HTML or HTML-like page (step 510). Anillustrative example of such a page for a call tree (or menu) is screenof display 400 a shown in FIG. 4A. For this example, it may be assumedthat a user of wireless telephone 164 can interact with and utilize calltree 400 a via keyed and/or cursor inputs to wireless telephone 164.

Next, the user can decide whether or not to interact with, and/or accessa node of, displayed call tree 400 a (step 512). If not, at somepertinent point in time, the user can decide whether or not to terminatethe call (step 514). If the user decides not to terminate the call, thenthe flow can return to step 510. Otherwise, the user can terminate thecall if so desired.

For this exemplary embodiment, the user of wireless IP telephone 164 candecide whether or not to access a node of call tree 400 a by “hovering”(e.g., placing a cursor temporarily) over or highlighting a node ofinterest on the HTML or HTML-like page. Responsive to such a “hovering”or highlighting action for a node of interest, the browser in wirelessIP telephone 164 and application associated with the displayed HTML orHTML-like page can generate a new display (e.g., new HTML or HTML-likepage, or separate frame) including certain details regarding the node ofinterest. An illustrative example of such a new page for a node ofinterest in the call tree of FIG. 4A is screen of display 400 b shown inFIG. 4B.

For this exemplary embodiment, referring to screen of display 400 b ofFIG. 4B, it may be assumed that a user of wireless IP telephone 164 has“hovered” over node 402 a in screen of display 400 a of FIG. 4A, and inresponse to the “hovering” action, a new page with certain details ofnode 402 a has been displayed as node 402 b of FIG. 4B (step 516). Forthis example, if the user of wireless telephone 164 decides to accessnode 402 a, the user can select node 402 a on the interactive HTML orHTML-like page in display 400 a of FIG. 4A (step 518). For example, theuser can select node 402 a by performing a “clicking” function on node402 a with a cursor on the display of wireless IP telephone 164. Then,for example, the application of wireless IP telephone 164 can be placedin a “wait” queue for further user interaction with node 402 b in FIG.4B.

As an alternative, for this exemplary embodiment, the user of awire-line telephone, wireless telephone, data network telephone,wireless IP telephone, etc. can select node 402 a for interaction by“clicking” on, or dialing, the number shown (e.g., 1-512-838-7777). Asanother alternative, appropriate tones representing that telephonenumber can be downloaded to an appropriate computer, and the tones canbe played from a speaker of the computer to a mouthpiece of a telephonein order for that telephone to dial the telephone number shown.

Returning to step 504, if the application running in wireless IPtelephone 164 (or the user) determines that this particular telephonenumber and/or service provider has been called earlier, then theapplication (or the user) can initiate an action for wireless telephone164 to retrieve a stored call tree node, such as, for example, node 402b of display 400 b (step 508). For example, the stored call tree nodecan be retrieved from storage 312 in FIG. 3. The flow can then proceedto step 510.

It is important to note that while the present invention has beendescribed in the context of a fully functioning data processing systemor system of communication networks, those of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate that the processes of the present invention are capableof being distributed in the form of a computer readable medium ofinstructions and a variety of forms and that the present inventionapplies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearingmedia actually used to carry out the distribution. Examples of computerreadable media include recordable-type media, such as a floppy disk, ahard disk drive, a RAM, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and transmission-type media,such as digital and analog communications links, wired or wirelesscommunications links using transmission forms, such as, for example,radio frequency and light wave transmissions. The computer readablemedia may take the form of coded formats that are decoded for actual usein a particular data processing system.

The description of the present invention has been presented for purposesof illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention, the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

1. A computer implemented method for processing a telephone call, thecomputer implemented method comprising: receiving, at a telephoneanswering system of a provider, a telephone call from a user device;responsive to receiving the telephone call, the telephone answeringsystem providing telephone call tree data to the user device, whereinthe telephone call tree data comprises data regarding a plurality ofnodes of a telephone call tree of the provider, and data regarding aplurality of subnodes of at least one node of the plurality of nodes,wherein providing the telephone call tree data to the user devicecomprises providing the telephone call tree data to the user device asan interactive page comprising an HTML, a WML or an XML page; andresponsive to receiving a user input indicative of selection of asubnode of the plurality of subnodes, the telephone answering systemestablishing a connection between the user device and the selectedsubnode.
 2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein thetelephone call tree data further comprises data regarding a plurality ofdetails of the selected subnode, and wherein receiving a user inputindicative of selection of the subnode of the plurality of subnodescomprises receiving a user input indicative of selection of a detail ofthe plurality of details of the selected subnode.
 3. The computerimplemented method of claim 2, wherein the detail of the plurality ofdetails comprises a telephone number associated with the subnode.
 4. Thecomputer implemented method of claim 2, and further comprising:responsive to receiving the user input indicative of selection of thedetail of the plurality of details, the telephone answering systemplacing the user device in a wait queue for interaction.
 5. The computerimplemented method of claim 1, wherein the telephone call tree datacomprises data for displaying the telephone call tree of the provider onthe user device, the displayed telephone call tree comprising theplurality of nodes and the plurality of subnodes of the at least onenode.
 6. A computer program product, comprising: a non-transitorycomputer readable recordable-type storage medium storing computer usableprogram code configured for processing a telephone call, the computerprogram product comprising: computer usable program code configured toreceive, at a telephone answering system of a provider, a telephone callfrom a user device; computer usable program code, responsive toreceiving the telephone call, configured for the telephone answeringsystem to provide telephone call tree data to the user device, whereinthe telephone call tree data comprises data regarding a plurality ofnodes of a telephone call tree of the provider, and data regarding aplurality of subnodes of at least one node of the plurality of nodes,wherein the computer usable program code configured for the telephoneanswering system to provide the telephone call tree data to the userdevice comprises computer usable program code configured for thetelephone answering system to provide the telephone call tree data tothe user device as an interactive page comprising an HTML, a WML or anXML page; and computer usable program code, responsive to receiving auser input indicative of selection of a subnode of the plurality ofsubnodes, configured for the telephone answering system to establish aconnection between the user device and the selected subnode.
 7. Thecomputer program product of claim 6, wherein the telephone call treedata further comprises data regarding a plurality of details of theselected subnode, and wherein receiving a user input indicative ofselection of the subnode of the plurality of subnodes, comprisesreceiving a user input indicative of selection of a detail of theplurality of details of the selected subnode.
 8. The computer programproduct of claim 7, and further comprising: computer usable programcode, responsive to receiving the user input indicative of selection ofthe detail of the plurality of details, configured for the telephoneanswering system to place the user device in a wait queue forinteraction.
 9. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein thetelephone call tree data comprises data for displaying the telephonecall tree of the provider on the user device, the displayed telephonecall tree comprising the plurality of nodes and the plurality ofsubnodes of the at least one node.
 10. An apparatus, comprising: aprocessor; and a memory storing instructions for processing a telephonecall tree, wherein the processor executes the instructions to receive,at a telephone answering system of a provider, a telephone call from auser device; responsive to receiving the telephone call, for thetelephone answering system to provide telephone call tree data to theuser device, wherein the telephone call tree data comprises dataregarding a plurality of nodes of a telephone call tree of the provider,and data regarding a plurality of subnodes of at least one node of theplurality of nodes, wherein the instructions for the telephone answeringsystem to provide the telephone call tree data to the user devicecomprises instructions for the telephone answering system to provide thetelephone call tree data to the user device as an interactive pagecomprising an HTML, a WML or an XML page; and responsive to receiving auser input indicative of selection of a subnode of the plurality ofsubnodes, for the telephone answering system to establish a connectionbetween the user device and the selected subnode.
 11. The apparatus ofclaim 10, wherein the telephone call tree data further comprises dataregarding a plurality of details of the selected subnode, and whereinreceiving the user input indicative of selection of a subnode of theplurality of subnodes, comprises receiving a user input indicative ofselection of a detail of the plurality of details of the selectedsubnode.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the detail of theplurality of details comprises a telephone number associated with thesubnode.
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, and further comprising:responsive to receiving the user input indicative of selection of thedetail of the plurality of details, the processor executing theinstructions for the telephone answering system to place the user devicein a wait queue for interaction.
 14. The apparatus of claim 10, whereinthe telephone call tree data comprises data for displaying the telephonecall tree of the provider on the user device, the displayed telephonecall tree comprising the plurality of nodes and the plurality ofsubnodes of the at least one node.
 15. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: the telephone answering system downloading tonesrepresenting a phone number to the user device, and wherein theconnection is established by the user device using the tones to call thephone number.
 16. The computer program product of claim 6, furthercomprising: computer usable programming code configured to downloadtones representing a phone number to the user device, and wherein theconnection is established by the user device using the tones to call thephone number.
 17. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: theprocessor executing the instructions for the telephone answering systemto download tones representing a phone number to the user device, andwherein the connection is established by the user device using the tonesto call the phone number.